I’ve been to two protest BLM protest and no kings day celebration protest. BLM protest was intimidating at first because I Parked close to the event and police had us surrounded and were gasing us, but that ended with them putting their shield and bats down as symbolic way of ending hostilities. No Kings day was way more chill and no confrontation with authorities that I witnessed but some happened before I got there, other than that it was mostly talking to people and expressing yourself in public.
There’s fun stories
I have sensory issues and don’t handle crowds or noise well, I have fun for a little bit if it’s not all too crowded, but then I crash hard while still there. After 1st of May I slept 19:00-11:00. And that’s in a country where the very worst I’ve personally witnessed police do was surround and unjustly arrest people. But if I can spare the resources, it’s totally worth it.
For what it’s worth, I’d look at it from the perspective of the protests being necessary to make sure that they aren’t able to get away with worse and worse stuff over time. Gotta let them know that even small acts of injustice will be met with resistance.
My country has been in the mentality of “Well at least they aren’t doing X” for so long that the police can basically get away with anything now. And the police are now at the point where they are doing “X” with increasing frequency, but the public’s ability to do anything about it is greatly hindered as a result.